woodward



(No Model.)

2 Sheets--Sheet 1. W. D. WOODWARD.

. GAR COUPLING.

Patnjzed July 19, 1887.

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(N0 Mdd l.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. 1). WOODWARD.

I OAR COUPLING. No. 366,990. Patented July 19, 1887.

A W////////////////17//////% I Wimesses: Zjventar.

I 6 a I a? Z %M 10 which- UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM DOUGLASS IVOOD\VARD, OF PLATTSBURG, NE\V YORK, ASSIGNOR OF TlVO-THIRDS TO ABNER L. ROBERTS AND MARTIN H. OBRIEN, BOTH OF S AME PLACE.

CAR-=COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 366,990, dated July 19, 1887.

Application filed December 7, 1886. Serial No.220,51'1. (No model.)

T aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, XVILLIAM DOUGLASS \VOODWARD, of Plattsburg, in the county of Clinton and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oar-Couplings; and I hereby declare the following to be a full and clear description thereof.

The invention will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, of

Figure l is an end elevation of a freightcar provided with my improved coupling. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portion of afreight-car provided with the said improvement. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the coup- 1ing,taken longitudinally through the center of the draw-head. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional elevation of the improved coupling, taken transverselythrough the draw-head and the fulcrum of one of the operating-levers,

showing the said lever or pin-lifter in elevation. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the pin-lifter-lever fulcrum, showing the rocking fulcrum-pins of the said fulcrum-plate. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the clamping-bars which hold the leverbar down when the coupling-pin is raised.

The draw-head A is attached to the framework of the car B in the usual manner, and it 0 is designed to receive and couple with the ordinary closed-link coupling. To facilitate the coupling-link C entering into the chambered link-recess aof the draw-head, I provide at the front end of the draw-head an inclined apron, 5 D, on which the link may strike when two cars come together, and the link will readily slide up on said inclined apron and enter thdrawhead recess a without the necessity of apersou going between the cars,thus making this prac- 0 tically a self-coupling device. The couplingpin E is attached to the ends of a pair oftransverse levers, F F, which are placed transversely to the car at the end thereof, and also to a vertical lifter-rod, F, leading to the top 5 of the car, the whole lever mechanism so combined and constructed that it maybe operated to lift the coupling-pin from either side of or from the top of the car, the handles of the lateral levers FF extending to near the side of the car, as shown in Fig. 1. The said levers F F have their inner ends'coupled together by a coupling-liuk,.f, and they, or one of them, is coupled to the pin E by a link, f, and the rod F is also suitably attached to one or both of the said levers, so that if either one of thesaid three lifting devices F F F be properly manipulated the pin E and the apron D,which is attached to the lever F by a connecting-rod or stirrup-piece,D, will be raised up as required. The rod or stirrup-piece D is pivoted to the lever F by means of an assembling-pin,d,passing through its upper end and through the said lever F, and its lower end is bent outwardly into an L-shaped form, so as to readily receive the metal plate forming the apron D, which is riveted to it. The fulcrum of each of thesaid levers F F consists of a bed-plate, G, bolted down to the top of the dead-wood piece 13, or some equivalent part of the car, and a cradlepiece, G, coupled together by their respective 7c lug-pieces g and g and the assembling-pins g, which pass through these lugs and assemble them together, so that the upper or cradle piece, G, of the said fulcrum may have a lateral rocking movement along with its attached lever, which is pivoted in an upwardly-projecting lug or pair of lugs, Qrising from the top of the cradle-piece G. One of the lug pieces 9' extends downwardly below the pivotpin g", and is turned outwardly into a lateral arm, 9', which furnishes a bearing orguide for the lifter-piece D.

A clamping device consisting of a pair of i n ward] y-toothed levers, H H, pivoted togetherby the assemblingpin h attheir lower ends in a plate, H", which is fastened to the side of the deadwood piece 13, or in an equivalent position 0n the car B, is designed to hold the free end of the lever F down when the pin E is to be held up. The upper ends of the said levers c or hooked holders H H are provided withinwardly-projecting teeth or lugs h h, the upper faces of which slope upwardly and outwardly and the lower faces of which slope downwardly and outwardly, so the lever F may be pressed down between the said lever-holders or up out of them by simply moving the lever down or up, as required, the two said holders or jaws being habitually thrown or held together suffi cient-ly for this purpose by the actuating-spring I00 v2 Y a 366,990

H". In this manner the pin E may be raised and held up until the link of the approaching car shall have entered the draw-head of the car on which the coupling is set for automatic operation, and when the draw-head of said approaching car strikes or presses against the apron D it forces said apron down and under the other draw-head, and consequently forces the lever F up out of the jaws H H, and the pin E then falls down into and through the link, and the coupling is then completed.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The lever F, mounted in and fulcrumed to the laterally-rocking cradle G, in combination WILLIAM DOUGLASS WOODWARD.

\Vitnesses:

THOS. F. MANNIX, Gno. M. SPERRY. 

